


you have pretty eyes, he wrote.

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura getting all flustered by Shay is adorbs, Coran is just there bc they make great tea, F/F, F/M, I made Keith lowkey suffer in the background, Katie goes by both Pidge and Katie, Lance is there w/ his exuberant self, M/M, Pidge wearing dresses and skirts makes me happy, Rax is overprotective and knows shit, background Shatt, but don’t worry, but so does seeing her wear her normal dorky attire so…, but then the rest of the paladins snuck their way into it, can you tell I’m in Klance hell???, it’s a nickname for her, like how I respond to two names as well, mentions of social anxiety, so this was mainly going to be centered around Pidge and Hunk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-27 15:12:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7623613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Nice to know I’m loved, Pidge!” came a voice from the doorway right as Hunk screwed a cap on the Styrofoam coffee cup. Lance Romero came into view, pouting in Pidge’s direction. “I’ve known you since pre-school, Pidge, and <em>this</em> is how you treat your best friend?!”</p><p>Pidge sniffed. “Who said we were friends?” </p><p> </p><p>(Or that coffee shop au that no one asked for (and I really wanted to write))</p>
            </blockquote>





	you have pretty eyes, he wrote.

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defenders, and it belongs to its’ creators. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement intended. Also, if you haven’t read my tags: Pidge’s pronouns are she/her. And I apologize for any errors. 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Btw, I am not creative with last names.

**oOo Shay’s Tea & Coffee House oOo**

Hunk Garrett breathed in the air of _Shay’s Tea & Coffee House_. It was a fairly new shop, one that sold both tea and coffee. It was quaint, dressed in the warm colors of earthy greens and browns with wicker furniture. Hunk had only worked there for a few months – when it had opened, in fact – and loved every inch of it. Staff was limited to Hunk himself, the owners, Shay and Rax, and a quiet boy named Keith. Rax and Shay were normally baking in the kitchen, so only Hunk and Keith were in front.  Keith knew the most about handling the different types of tea, and Hunk was a pro at working the coffee machines.

The atmosphere of the café was amiable and friendly, and the scent of the tea leaves made Hunk think of his grandmother back home. He and Keith were sort-of friends. They were getting there but it was a tad hard to socialize with someone that barely spoke, and never looked at people in the eye (which is why Hunk manned the front counter). They’d made progress, however, for Hunk was able to wrangle Keith into small talk whenever business was slow.

The café was only six months old, still unknown to the masses, but there were quite a few regulars that drifted in and out. Majority of those regulars were university students that were running late or dragging their feet after getting killed on the latest exam. Hunk was a college student himself but he took classes online, and didn’t have the entire “experience” dealing with four-year universities. Yet that didn’t matter to him because he was content with the way his life was.

Sure, his little apartment of one had one too many leaks, and the wall paint was chipped and peeling, and the furniture was ghastly and didn’t really match at all, and his bed squeaked underneath the smallest addition of weight, but it was his and there was still a roof over his head, and he had a steady income, and his neighbors were kind, and he was content.

In all honesty, it could be a lot worse.

As Shay was fixing the pastry display, adding a few more blueberry muffins to the shelves, the bell above the door rang, signaling the first customer of the day. Keith seemed to, somehow, shrink into himself near the announcement boards, and Shay was concentrating on arranging the muffins neatly, so Hunk smiled and greeted, “Welcome to Shay’s Tea &Coffee House! How may I help you?”

The girl before him was unfamiliar. Her golden-brown hair was in a side braid with her bangs brushing against her eyes. She wore an off-the-shoulder tee, shorts with leggings, and vans. Curiosity and interest brimmed in her golden-brown orbs.

“Hi,” she said, finally, after scanning the chalkboard menu above Hanks’ head. Her voice was warm, Hunk thought, as though they were a sentient forest, playing with the children that entered its’ domain. “How does the Chocolate Chai Tea taste?”

“It has an exquisite taste, and the tea leaves are organically grown,” Hunk replied. “It tastes even better when you add cinnamon, vanilla, milk, and sugar with it.”

The girl hummed softly, her eyes trained on the board before moving to browse the shelves of pastries. After a few moments of relative silence – Keith was restocking the tea and coffee beans, Shay was making the small menus neater, and Rax was cursing in the kitchen for some reason – before girl straightened herself and said, “Sorry for taking so long but I’d like to have the Chocolate Chai Tea with – all of those ingredients you just added, and a blueberry muffin.”

Tapping her order into the register, Hunk asked, “What size would you like for your tea? And what name?”

“Small, please,” she said. “And, for the name – Pidge.”

“That’ll be $8.49.” Hunk smiled at Pidge. “Your order will be ready shortly, Pidge.”

“Cheap,” Pidge murmured thoughtfully as she handed over her money with exact change.

Shay had already wrapped Pidge’s muffin when Hunk had given Pidge her receipt and turned around to make her order. As Hunk worked, Shay and Pidge made small talk over insipid things – the weather, recent politics, and so forth – and Keith had moved to the small litter of tables in the café to restock the napkin dispensers. Soon, the aroma of chai tea and chocolate floated in the café.

Pidge breathed in and made a happy noise in the back of her throat. “That is going to taste wonderful.”

“I’m fonder of the original chai tea but I do find the chocolate variety to be nice,” Shay said in her soft voice that reminded Hunk of stargazing at midnight. “So how’d you find my little café?”

“Oh, one of my friends recommended it since I was getting tired of Starbucks,” Pidge replied, fiddling with the ends of her braid. Hunk began to add the dashes of cinnamon and vanilla to her tea. “He said he was a regular here.”

“Oh?” Shay said, perking up with interest. “What’s his name?”

“Lance Romero,” Pidge replied. “He’s tall, a dork in disguise, a space nerd, horrible flirt, horrible decision maker, reckless—,”

“Nice to know I’m loved, Pidge!” came a voice from the doorway right as Hunk screwed a cap on the Styrofoam coffee cup. Lance Romero came into view, pouting in Pidge’s direction. “I’ve known you since pre-school, Pidge, and _this_ is how you treat your best friend?!”

Pidge sniffed. “Who said we were friends?”

Her statement was ruined by the small smile dancing on her lips.

“One Chocolate Chai Tea for Pidge,” Hunk called. Pidge shuffled towards the counter and grabbed the warm cup with a smile. Hunk smiled back. “Have a great day!”

Pidge took a hesitant sip, cautious of the scalding temperature, and found her eyes fluttering from the taste. “This is _delicious_ ,” she purred before taking a gulp of the tea. “Definitely coming back for more.”

“Told you this place was fantastic,” Lance smirked as he walked to the front counter.

“Welcome to Shay’s Tea & Coffee House,” Shay said with laughter brimming in her voice. “What would you like to order?”

“Mornin’ Shay, Hunk…” Lance’s voice drifted as he scanned the menu. “I’m feeling experimental today so I’ll have one small, Earl Grey.”

From one of the tables, Pidge snorted. “You call Earl Grey experimental?”

“Oi, Pidgeon, don’t you have class?” Lance glowered in her direction.

Pidge scowled. “Don’t call me _Pidgeon_ , Romero.”

“We’re practically related,” Lance said with another smirk. “So I can call you whatever I want!”

Settling with a glare, Pidge fell silent and mumbled to herself. Keith, who was still replacing the napkin dispensers on table three, thought that she was planning retribution given the dark aura clustering around her. The way Pidge systematically bit into her muffin as though she were pretending to bite someone’s head off made Keith shudder. Hunk had turned on the kettle as Shay asked, “To go or to stay? And name, please?”

“Here,” Lance replied. “And Lance Romero.”

Shay told him the cost, and Lance paid before whirling around. His eyes settled on Keith’s and, feeling eyes trained onto his silhouette, Keith heaved a sigh that physically made his shoulders droop. _Here it comes,_ Keith thought to himself when Lance opened his mouth.

 “Keith-y boy!”

Keith scowled, shoveling the napkins inside of its’ dispenser with more force than recommended, and spoke. _“What_.”

Pidge raised her eyebrows at the exchange.

Keith was quiet and somewhat small. He had narrow shoulders and hips, and looked as though he barely ate three meals a day. However, despite the fact that he barely spoke, his voice was powerful. To Hunk, Keith’s voice reminded him of the way thunderstorms boomed, of the way a valedictorian would say their last words during graduation, of the way the earth sometimes trembled beneath peoples’ feet. Lance’s voice reminded Hunk of laughter, of home, of the way his siblings squabbled and roughhoused.

Keith and Lance were opposites in almost every way — Keith brooded, and Lance smiled. Keith barely spoke, and sometimes Lance wouldn’t shut up. Keith dressed in dark colors, and Lance once wore all the colors of the rainbow. Keith was as dark as the moon, and Lance was vibrant like the sun. At first glance, Hunk had assumed that the two would be enemies of a sort and, for a while, he thought that since Keith complained about Lance in the breakroom after their encounters.

Then, those days turned into weeks, and those weeks turned into months, and Hunk began to notice something different, something pivotal. There were secret glances, and gentle brushes, and the bite in Keith’s voice was all but gone whenever he spoke to Lance. Lance was capable of pulling laughter out of Keith’s mouth when Hunk struggled on the best of days. Lance managed to make Keith smile when Rax once joked that it was impossible.

Lance was capable of producing impossible results whenever Keith was involved.

“Ooh, someone’s being extra grumpy today,” Lance teased, moving closer to the employee. Keith huffed, his scowl grew more pronounced, and turned his attention back towards the napkins. “Did you miss your beauty sleep?”

And there it was — the soft undertone in Lance’s voice that made Hunk think he was saying: _you’re beautiful._

Then again, what the hell did Hunk know about romance? Maybe he was thinking too deeply — he did that a lot — and he was seeing things that _weren’t there._ Who knew? Certainly not him.

The kettle began to whistle, and Hunk busied himself preparing Lance’s order.

Keith sighed. “I’m busy.”

“You’re filing a napkin dispenser,” Lance said flatly.

Keith raised an eyebrow. “Your point?”

Sensing an impending fight, Hunk called out, “One Earl Grey tea for a Lance Romero.”

Lance smiled and backed away from Keith, who sighed in relief. “Thank you, Hunk,” Lance said, grabbing the cup of tea, and breathing in the aroma. “Smells wonderful.”

That day was the first day he met the soon-to-be-regular, Pidge (a.k.a Katie Holt). She became a steady customer, entering the Tea & Coffee House a least once a day, and she chose her order depending on her emotions. If she was happy, she ordered Chocolate Chai Tea and a blueberry muffin. If she was exhausted, she’d order strong coffee and a bland muffin. If she was angry, she’d order the sweetest things that she could and sequester herself in table number four. 

Pidge wasn’t the only customer that did this — one of Shay’s regulars, Takashi “Please call me Shiro” Shirogane, would ask for chamomile tea whenever he couldn’t sleep or have Rax’s infamous sugar cookies when he was feeling down. The only time Shiro ordered something that wasn’t coffee, tea, or a cookie was when he was ordering for his boyfriend, whom was also Pidge’s older brother, Matt Holt. Hunk had met Matt once or twice, and he liked the raspberry flavored coffee.

Lance was always around when he didn’t have to work, babysit, or go to class. Buzzing around, he’d pull everyone into random topics and debates or he’d pester Keith until said employee replied to his antics. Lane was sporadic with what he ordered, and there wasn’t a style to it. Three months after Shay’s opened, Lance had declared that he wished to try everything on the menu. Rax had scoffed and went back into the kitchen.

Another regular of Shay’s was Allura Altea, and her Uncle Coran. Allura mostly ordered the baked goods, and Coran was there for the tea (as well as watching Allura get flustered by the way Shay flirted with her). Despite being in the kitchen primarily, whenever Allura entered the café, Rax would “somehow” have a job to do in the front of the store. Shay had always huffed at her older brother, knowing that he was overprotective.

“It’s just harmless flirting,” Shay had once insisted. “Allura doesn’t look at me in that way.”

Rax had snorted. “Keep thinking that, princess.”

The seasons changed, and so did the people of Shay’s Tea & Coffee House. Fall turned into winter, Halloween into Winter Holidays, October into December, and Hunk was preparing for another holiday craze at the coffee house (Shay went ballistic with themes and decorations during any sort of holiday) when the bell above the door signaled another customer.

“Welcome to Shay’s Tea & Coffee House,” Hunk called, his voice slightly muffled for he was fixing the Styrofoam cups underneath the counter. “I will be with you in just a moment.”

Hunk was not prepared for the sight that he was graced with when he straightened himself and turned to face the customer.

Pidge sniffled. “Hey, Hunk.” There were tears rolling down Pidge’s cheeks. Her face was flushed, and her eyes shined with such sadness, it made Hunk’s heart ache inside of his chest. Her lips quivered as she ordered, “I-I’ll have a medium vanilla frappe, please. Extra whip cream, ok?”

Hunk blinked, dumbfounded for a moment, before he shook himself and got back to work. Pidge didn’t comment on the way he flailed, and mechanically gave him her debit card once he told her how much she owed.

“It’ll be ready in just a moment, Pidge,” Hunk said.

Pidge nodded and shuffled towards table number two. She slumped in her seat and peered out the window, observing those that walked past the café without a second thought. Hunk shook himself again and turned on the coffee machine. It whirred to life. Shay’s was eerily silent since Pidge was the only customer at the moment, Shay was out with a chest cold, Rax was busying himself with checking on Shay and the cookies he was baking, and Keith had the day off and was hanging out with Lance.

(“It _is not_ a date, Lance. Got it?” Keith growled at the boy. “I just want to see what’s so special about this place.”

“Okay,” Lance agreed with a solemn expression. “It’s not a date. Just a friendly outing between bros.”

Keith nodded and slinked away to grab the broom to clean up a spill near table six. Once Keith’s back was turned, Lance whirled around to face Hunk. He winked and whispered, “It is so a date.”

“It is not!”

“Whatever you say, my angry mullet.”)

Pouring Pidge’s coffee into a Styrofoam cup and adding the works, Hunk couldn’t help but glance at Pidge. Despite looking as though she’d gone through an obvious trauma, Hunk couldn’t help but think that she still looked pretty. She wasn’t wearing her normal attire of skirts or dresses, but had on cargo pants and an oversized, green shirt. There were large glasses on her face too, which Hunk thought peculiar. He’d never seen her with glasses on before.

Scribbling her name onto her cup (protocol and everything), Hunk couldn’t help himself.

He added a succinct, sweet note on the cup, underneath her name.

It was only going to happen once, Hunk told himself. A one-time deal.

(except that it totally wasn’t going to be)

“One Vanilla Frappe with Extra Whip Cream for Pidge,” Hunk called.

Pidge, whom was wiping her eyes, crumbled the napkins in her hands and trudged towards the counter. Her gait was sluggish, as though the world was pressing against her shoulders. She wrapped her hand around the cup and said, “Thank you, Hunk.”

“No problem,” Hunk said, smiling.

Pidge grabbed her bag and as she swept out of the tea & coffee house, her eyes caught onto extra letters on the Styrofoam cup. Curious, Pidge peered at the little message the barista left her. _P.s. you have a beautiful smile. Hope you are happier tomorrow!_

Although she was sniffling, and tears still stung her eyes, a smile had blossomed on her lips.

Pidge came back two days later. This time, her cheeks were flushed by the cold, winter air, and Lance was trudging inside after her. Catching sight of Lance, Keith, who was, once again, refilling the napkin dispenser, groaned. Lance pouted and made a beeline for Keith, who was failing at making himself invisible.

“Lance, what do you want?” Pidge questioned before Lance could begin pestering Keith.

“Hot chocolate!”

Pidge nodded and slid in line behind Allura, who was more focused on giving Shay heart-eyes than looking at the menu. Hunk was already used to the googly-eyed regular spacing out in front of the cash register. Predictably, Rax was out of the kitchen with a stubborn glare on his face. The twenty-six -year-old was “on break”, and idly sipping from a mug of steaming coffee. Coran was settled at table number five with a cup of Earl Grey tea.

Allura snapped out of her love-struck daze when Pidge started pointedly coughing. Flushing to the tips of her ears, she ordered one of Shay’s winter specials — a hot cup of mocha with dashes of peppermint and whipped cream. Shay bustled behind Hunk to prepare it. Once Pidge was at the front of the miniscule line, she pursed her lips in thought.

She was wearing another dress — an emerald green that brought out her eyes, a black sash tied at the back — with black leggings, a black winter jacket, and a green-and-black knitted scarf. Her hair was curled, falling down her shoulders gently, and framing her face prettily.

Hunk blinked, snapping himself out of it, as Pidge said, “Two large hot chocolates, one with extra whipped cream, and two chocolate chip muffins, please.”

Hunk nodded, tapping in her order. “Names?”

“Pidge on the one with extra whipped cream, and the other – Lance.”

“That’ll be $15.49, please.”

Once the transaction was complete, and Pidge was slipping her receipt in her purse, Hunk smiled. “Your order will be ready shortly.”

Pidge smiled back, and Hunk was a little captivated by the way it lit up her face. Shaking himself out of his stupor, Hunk got to work amidst Rax’s inquisitive eyes.

Shay gave him a smirk as he started working on the hot chocolate, and Hunk rolled his eyes. Chuckling, Shay called out, “One Peppermint Mocha Special for Allura Altea!”

In a graceful gait, Allura made her way towards the counter with a bright smile dancing on her lips. Near Hunk, Rax let out a low-pitched growl that sounded way too inhumane.

“Thank you,” Allura smiled, ignoring the way Rax bore holes into her head, and gripped her cup.

With a coy smile, Shay replied, “You’re very welcome, gorgeous.”

Coran guffawed at the pink that dusted Allura’s cheeks and at her stuttered, “U-um, y-you’re g-g-gorgeous too, S-Shay.”

A low, almost poisonous, hiss escaped Rax’s mouth.

“So,” Lance said, leaning against the table. Keith was studiously ignoring the teen as well as avoiding eye contact — though it proved trying what with Lance’s natural stubbornness. “I think we should go on another date when you don’t have work.”

Keith glowered at Lance but his reddening cheeks softened the glare. “It wasn’t a date, Lance.”

“Okay,” Lance acquiesced. “Let’s go on another not-date, then.”

Pidge, who had situated herself at her regular spot, table number four, snorted into the spine of her textbook.

Keith’s reply was succinct. “No.”

Lance pouted. “Why not? We had fun!”

Keith heaved a sigh, as though exhausted, and said, “I don’t want to go anywhere on my day off.”

“That’s cool,” Lance said. “We can chill at your place.”

Keith twitched. “The day I invite you to my house is the day I want it destroyed.”

“Hey!” Lance yelped, offended. “I am a wonderful house guest! Tell him, Pidge!”

Pidge looked up from her sociology textbook and raised an eyebrow. “The last time you came to my house, you set the microwave on fire.”

Keith wasn’t impressed as Lance protested, “I was _nine_.”

“And you haven’t been inside the Holt residence since,” Pidge said in a cheerful, yet slightly devious tone of voice.

Once Keith moved away from Lance, Lance whirled on Pidge and hissed, “What happened to being my wing-woman?”

“Not once in my life have I ever agreed to being that,” Pidge said bluntly.

Sulking, Lance wilted into the chair next to Pidge. “Katie,” he whined.

 “Lance,” Pidge replied in the same tone but sympathetically patted his head. “You just have to take baby steps, yeah? No one has a Hollywood romance.”

“But I want one.”

“Too bad. Your life isn’t a shitty, cliché cinema rom-com. Welcome to the real world, buddy.”

Lance groaned in frustration, bumping his head against the wicker table. Pidge went back to her textbook and started annotating. Keith, who was still in hearing range, was doing his best to keep his laughter inside of him. The edges of his lips twitched, the only visible declaration of his amusement, as he swept past their table and made his way to the other side of the café with napkins in his hands.

Hunk had finished Pidge’s order. “Two Hot Chocolates, one with extra whipped cream, and two chocolate muffins for a Pidge and Lance!”

Lance was still brooding so Pidge got up and made her way to the counter. Cradling the bag of muffins at the crook of her elbow, she took the two warm cups and gave Hunk another one of her sunshine smiles (as Lance called it) before walking back to her table. Hunk could only blink in response. Witnessing the exchange, Shay’s smirk grew more pronounced.

“Have something to share, Hunk?” She questioned with a teasing lilt to her voice.

“No more than you,” Hunk shot back, triumphant when Shay flushed and snuck a glance at Allura’s back.

“Hush you,” Shay hissed.

Rax began to sip his coffee a bit more angrily.

Keith, observing the café from table nine, could only sigh. People were so bothersome sometimes.

Settling back down at her table, Pidge distributed the hot chocolate and muffins. Morosely, Lance chewed on his muffin. Pidge watched her friend with amusement brimming in her eyes.

“Laugh it up,” Lance muttered. “I’ll remember this when you get into the dating pool.”

Pidge snorted. Once again, the flash of letters caught her eyes and she stared at the little, positive message Hunk had left her. _Keep on smiling! You look great today!_

She sipped at her hot chocolate, making sure that Lance’s wandering eyes wouldn’t see the message, and smiled softly to herself. She felt light, as though she could fly to Neverland.

Lance eyed her. “What are you smiling for?”

Pidge glared. “Who made you the facial expression police?”

Raising his hands in surrender, Lance said, “Easy, easy. Man, I’m feeling so attacked right now.”

Pidge groaned, inwardly suffering.

Keith, who had passed by to get more napkins, thought: _oh, my, god. I’m in love with this?_

Over the course of the next few weeks, when snow clumped on the sidewalks and trees were bare, Hunk observed many more changes and developments. Something drastic had brewed in the Keith and Lance Show (the name courtesy of Rax), and Keith couldn’t look in Lance’s direction without a vibrant, crimson red blush splattering his cheeks. Lance had the same dilemma, and seemed to grow clumsier both in speech and step when in the immediate proximity of the other teen.

Another development was between Shay and Allure, much to Rax’s dismay. Shay had grown a spine and asked Allura out when Rax was in the bathroom. Rax was spitting fire in the kitchen when Shay was about to leave. She was taking Allura out for dinner date at a restaurant that Hunk had never heard of (“it just opened up,” Shay had told him. “They’ve stellar reviews.”).

“I don’t like this,” the overprotective brother spewed.

“I’m sorry,” Shay replied, raising an eyebrow. “But I don’t remember signing a contract stating that you have direct control over my life.”

Hunk had stayed out of the confrontation, contently refilling the containers of tea leaves. When Shay left, Hunk had given her a cheerful goodbye. Rax was too busy sulking in the kitchen to see her off on (Hunk was guessing) her first date. In his head, Hunk wished her the best of luck.

Shiro and Matt were still going strong, last Hunk had seen. “Our fourth year anniversary,” Shiro said over a cup of peppermint tea. He was watching Matt, who was peppering Pidge with questions over the latest tech she’d designed. His eyes were soft as he watched his significant other, and the look in his eyes made Hunk fervently wish for their happiness, and for his own. “Can you believe it?”

“I wish you the best,” Hunk smiled.

Shiro grinned. “Thanks, Hunk. And you, too.”

Everyone seemed to be falling in and out of love — everyone except for him, of course.

Still, Hunk kept up with those little messages for Pidge. It made him happy when he saw her smile after reading them. Of course, the fact that he was nursing a burning crush on the college student played a major part in his actions but he’d cease those messages if he ever saw that she was growing uncomfortable with the attention. The last thing Hunk ever wanted to do was make Pidge uneasy.

Yet she never showed aversion towards his messages, so Hunk kept writing them. Sometimes, when he wrote them, he would briefly wonder if she kept his messages or threw them away.

The messages varied, depending on the mood she was in. As exams reared their ugly heads, Pidge would order a highly strong, caffeinated tea (the Irish Breakfast blend) and, by the dark smudges underneath her eyes, Hunk knew that she was pulling all-nighters. So Hunk would scribble messages such as: _don’t forget to sleep_ or _studying is good but health is #1_ , and similar things like those. It never failed to make Pidge smile (or pout).

When a Christmas craze settled over the city, Pidge trudged inside Shay’s Tea & Coffee House. As usual, Hunk was at the counter. Keith was with Lance, looking for a small tree to plant inside of his apartment (“Lance insisted,” Keith had said, his nose a bright pink. “And for the record, I don’t want to be here.”

“You’re here because you love me!” Lance said, grinning like the dork that he was.

Keith scoffed but muttered, “Unfortunately,” underneath his breath).

Pidge had only rolled her eyes.

As the bell twinkled, Hunk yelled out the standard greeting. He smiled upon settling his eyes on her physique. Pidge was wearing layers and she _knew_ she looked ridiculous. “Hey, Pidge,” Hunk greeted.

“Hi, Hunk,” Pidge said as she made her way to the counter. “I’ll have a medium hot chocolate, please. It’s freezing outside.”

“I’m lucky to be inside,” Hunk said before telling her the amount.

After paying, Pidge’s eyes caught two little jars. There were slips of paper right next to them and small pencils that didn’t have erasers. One jar was yellow and labeled “Hunk”, and the other was red with “Keith” on it. A sign was nestled between the two jars, declaring: LEAVE A NOTE FOR OUR EMPLOYEES! BE POLITE, PLEASE.

Hunk was paying more attention to the hot chocolate, so Pidge grabbed a strip of paper and quickly jotted down the one thing she’d been dying to say before placing it inside of Hunk’s jar. A second later, it seemed, Hunk turned around with her order. She caught the extra letters, and her eyes crinkled with her smile.

“Thanks,” she said.

“No problem,” Hunk grinned.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she sighed. “Gotta go. My mom wants me to help her with decorations,” Pidge wiggled her fingers in a cheery wave. “See you later, Hunk.”

Hunk waved back. “Bye, Pidge!”

As she drifted back out into the crisp air, Hunk noticed the folded slip of paper in his jar. Curious, he took it out.

_Call me sometime. Btw, you’ve a beautiful smile too._

Underneath the penmanship were numbers and a signature.

_—Pidge :3_

Already a few street signs away, Pidge smiled to herself as she read another positive message from the adorable, handsome barista.

_You have pretty eyes._

 

**Author's Note:**

> So how did I do?? 
> 
> And just what is the ship name for Hunk x Pidge? Punk? Hidge? Techno Nerds? Science Dorks?
> 
> Talk to me at yourdreamingunderthestars.tumblr.com


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